Would a CO2 “monkey trial” improve scientific integrity and transparency?
As reported in the L.A. Times and Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has petitioned EPA to hold a trial-type hearing before finalizing its proposed finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. (We blogged about the proposed endangerment finding here.) The main argument in the petition is that a formal hearing is required to effectuate the administration's stated commitment to scientific integrity and transparency. Don't be foo...
CONTINUE READINGAn Indian Cap-and-Trade System?
Well, here's something potentially significant: India has approved in principle new trading plans centred on energy efficiency as part of efforts to shift to a greener economy to fight climate change, opening up a potential market worth more than $15 billion by 2015. ... The plan involves creating a market-based mechanism that would allow businesses using more energy than stipulated to compensate by buying energy certificates from those using less energy due to energy ...
CONTINUE READINGNews of the Day
There's a lot of interesting stuff out there. Not as interesting as Legal Planet, maybe, but let's give credit where credit is due. Here's some of the latest: What Happened to Acid Rain? How we (partially) solved a major environmental problem. China is Taking over the Solar Energy Market. Apparently somebody thinks there's money in renewables. UC Campuses Go Green. Three UC Campuses, including UCLA and Berkeley, are leading the charge for more sustainable univers...
CONTINUE READINGDecriminalizing Our Public Lands
According to media reports, government fire investigations reveal that the recent, extensive brush fires that have destroyed nearly 100,000 acres in Santa Barbara County, California, were ignited as a result of illegal marijuana operations being conducted on federal forest lands. As news accounts point out, clandestine drug operations carried out on public lands may be a new phenomenon for besieged firefighters. But they're a depressing, all-too-familiar story to forest...
CONTINUE READINGMore proof that economics does not run the world
The Washington Post has a fascinating story today about Maryland abandoning its reverse auction strategy to buy up small crabbing licenses. The scheme was cooked up by a bunch of economists, and apparently neither they nor state officials thought to talk to any of its targets before implementing it. According to the story, there are currently 3,676 "limited crab catcher" licenses in Maryland, which allow the holder to set up to 50 pots. Most of the holders of those li...
CONTINUE READINGFastrack to Nowhere?
President Obama has announced a commitment to high speed rail, envisioning a network that could: connect areas like the cities of the Pacific Northwest; southern and central Florida; the Gulf Coast to the Southeast to our nation's capital; the breadth of Pennsylvania and New York to the cities of New England; and something close to my heart, a central hub network that draws the cities of our industrial heartland closer to Chicago and one another. In the Washington Post t...
CONTINUE READINGAtrazine in drinking water
Atrazine is suddenly very much in the news. Today's New York Times features a major story about whether the EPA's current standard for acceptable levels of atrazine in drinking water is tight enough to protect human health. Yesterday's Peoria Journal carried a story about a class action lawsuit filed in Illinois state court against Syngenta, the primary manufacturer of atrazine. And NRDC has just issued a report accusing EPA of ignoring the atrazine problem (summary here...
CONTINUE READINGSurprise! This Was World Water Week
I have to admit that World Water Week slipped by me unnoticed. (I guess I "didn't get the memo.") But it's not too soon to start thinking about next year: The 2010 World Water Week theme will deal with the consequences of water use on the status of the resource itself. Water quality and water quantity are affected by how water and land are used in different sectors. Pollution and water scarcity are two examples of consequences having wide ramifications for society as a w...
CONTINUE READINGRecent Work in Environmental Economics
What are environmental economists thinking about these days? Mostly energy and clmate change, it would seem. Here's a roundup of the most significant recent papers posted at SSRN's environmental economics journal. I've included links to those with free downloads: "Airline Emission Charges: Effects on Airfares, Service Quality, and Aircraft Design" JAN K. BRUECKNER and ANMING ZHANG This paper explores the effect of airline emissions charges on airfares, airline serv...
CONTINUE READINGBisphenol-A in baby bottles . . . and in Sigg bottles (!)
The chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), commonly found in polycarbonate plastics and other household containers, is the subject of a new bill in California because of its potential adverse health effects. BPA hasbeen linked through animal testing to serious health problemsinvolving behavior, brain development, reproduction and heart function. Environmental advocacy groups such as the Environmental Working Group, have been campaigning for a banon the chemical's use in bottles i...
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